{"id":22187,"date":"2022-01-06T09:30:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T09:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=22187"},"modified":"2022-01-06T18:10:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T18:10:10","slug":"workplace-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/workplace-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future Workplace: What To Expect This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we enter a new year, businesses are putting the wheels in motion for more virtual<\/a> operations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While headlines are rife with the new<\/span>\u00a0Omicron<\/span> variant, the UK braces itself for another tough season. As a result, businesses must continue to do what they can to uphold company culture in an online capacity. And they must do this while ensuring they put measures in place to keep their workforce safe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the pandemic shows we can’t predict what’s coming, there are a few trends you should be aware of to help better prepare.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Voice as a vector for human connection<\/span><\/h2>\n

While video communications<\/a> became hugely popular for teams looking to connect face-to-face, voice calls also proved tremendously valuable. Our recent survey revealed<\/a> that 64% of Brits believe they can successfully build personal relationships with co-workers without ever physically meeting them. Three quarters of these workers (77%) believe those that use voice communications will be more connected to each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

M<\/span>any of us enjoy connecting in person, but businesses should be aware of video call fatigue. Leaders, managers and all workers must balance meetings they can do effectively over the phone and those that need to be conducted by video call.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foundational, quality telephony should be a key priority for businesses. Especially as they increasingly look to combine collaboration, instant messaging, VoIP<\/a> and video calling into one platform. Reliability is key, so it’s important to seek out the well-established UCaaS<\/a> providers that offer at least 99.999% high-availability uptime. That’s the equivalent of 26 seconds of downtime each month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The great office overhaul<\/span><\/h2>\n

It’s reasonable to expect that the traditional office space might take a different form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For workers willing to return to the office or commute for part of their working week, business leaders must be willing to offer more than just the opportunity to work under the old strip lighting again.<\/span><\/p>\n

With hybrid working being the norm for many workers, organisations might redesign their office as a more collaborative space. These new spaces will likely focus less on dedicated permanent desk space for every employee. For example, companies like Dropbox introduced the concept of<\/span> Dropbox Studios. <\/span><\/a>\u00a0The studios encourage more fluid, in-person collaboration with colleagues.<\/span><\/p>\n

We’ll see a lot of UK businesses tweak their office space to fit a more flexible working lifestyle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Giving power back to the people<\/span><\/h2>\n

Before the pandemic, business leaders had a lot of control, monitoring 9-5 hours and advocating archaic attitudes to overtime and presenteeism. But workers now have different values because of the global health crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we all re-evaluated our priorities and our approach to work-life balance, there was a somewhat imperceptible shift in power. Employees quit their jobs in favour of a new career, sought freelance work or cut their hours to spend time with family.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether business leaders like it or not, we’re looking at a workers revolution in the face. As employers panic amidst the<\/span>\u00a0great resignation<\/span><\/a>, talented workers mould their future, favouring a more flexible working lifestyle. As almost a<\/span>\u00a0quarter<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of workers prepare to change roles in the next few months, businesses must adhere to employees’ needs and desires for flexibility or risk losing their key talent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Centring in on security<\/span><\/h2>\n

One huge issue that has come about due to home working and the shift to a hybrid model is security. That’s because<\/span> more data and critical organisational information are shared virtually than ever before. With more business comms playing out virtually, all communications data will become increasingly valuable and vulnerable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n